Business owners with staff shortages and provinces with aging populations have delivered their message loud and clear: we need more immigrants to keep Canada`s economy growing.

The Liberal government will announce the numbers in November, along with how it plans to change the immigration system to achieve the levels its sets.

The 2016 plan allowed for up to 305,000 new permanent residents, around half of which are set to come through economic programs. The other half of the quota is filled by family class immigrants and refugees.

Traditionally Canada has accepted new immigrants at a rate of around 0.7 per cent of the population.

McCallum has not been drawn on whether he will look to increase this percentage, and, if, so, by how much.

He has expressed some of the areas in which he plans to make changes to better suit the immigrants coming in to social and economic requirements.

McCallum`s Immigration Plan

The Liberals made family reunification a key element of their campaign for election, and McCallum is looking at ways to speed up the whole process of bringing in immediate family members.

There are also plans to make it easier for international students to stay in Canada after they graduate. McCallum feels these young, Canadian qualified, Canadian experienced individuals are the perfect candidates to become new permanent residents.

McCallum also plans to address the technology talent shortage in Canada by making it easier to bring in new immigrants with the right qualifications.

Limitations on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are set to be relaxed, with a report into the current state of the program expected to be released in September.

McCallum has already given Atlantic Canada the freedom to bring in 2,000 more immigrants under Provincial Nominee Programs in 2017. These numbers could rise in 2018 and 2019 if the increase is seen as a success.

Several polls have been conducted recently to assess whether Canadians support increased immigration. The general feedback is the majority would like to see levels either increase or remain the same.

The key difference is that McCallum`s consultations have been held with specific stakeholders rather than the general public.

The public did get the chance to have their say, via an online questionnaire which has already closed for submissions.

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